Daniel Mousavi, 14, of Great Falls, VA is one of this year’s competitors in the i.Invest National Youth Entrepreneur Business Competition. Daniel, along with his younger brother Aidan, are addressing the immigration crisis around the globe through the development of an interactive board game and mobile application with their company, Software Flow, Inc.

Tell us about your business.

Software Flow created a storytelling platform designed to teach politics and history to children and adult players. The company offers two interactive games in Android and iPhone called, Immigrant’s Nightmare and Immigrant Challenge. In Immigrant’s Nightmare, players from different corner countries are attempting to cross the U.S. border (as center country) in a snake and ladder game format. Players are forced to go back and forth to their home country to collect assets and to earn an education before crossing the border. In Immigrant Challenge, players can attempt to enter other developed countries like Canada, France, Germany, in addition to the U.S.

What inspired the creation of Immigrant’s Nightmare and Immigrant Challenge?

The games were inspired by a school project Aidan was assigned in June of 2016. The boys developed the game as a response to the heated presidential debate surrounding immigration and the proposed building of a wall along the border between U.S. and Mexico. Together they created a prototype of the board game and set out to test a mobile application to educate the public about the issue in an engaging and interactive way. Fueled by the current social/political climate, Software Flow and its products hope to generate even more success than other socially motivated games, like Monopoly.

How will Software Flow impact the world?

The creators of Software Flow hope to influence the children of today, who will be the policy-makers of tomorrow. Out of the 61 million immigrants in the U.S., 11.5 have entered the country illegally, desperate to reside in the “Land of Opportunity” and have their civil and human rights protected by our country’s laws. The multimedia games provided by Software Flow hope to influence and educate the approximately 244 million international migrants and 20 million refugees worldwide.

What are the next steps?

Software Flow has already sold 30 units. The company plans to raise funds through crowdfunding efforts on platforms like Kickstarter, who have raised over $52.1 million dollars for board game creators. They seek to sell to consumers via print-on-demand options on their website. The creators also plan to promote their product on websites like Game Crafters and to seek partnerships with companies such as Northstar, attend industry trade shows, and collaborate with educational programs.